Mark Gillan, in charge of race operations at Williams, said that most of the
equipment in the garage at the time had been lost, including computer
hardware, telemetry and pit equipment. Incredibly, though, initial
inspections of Bruno Senna’s car, which was in the garage when the fire
erupted, suggest the chassis may still be usable at next week’s Monaco Grand
Prix.
But while there was relief, there was also anger, with Force India’s deputy
team principal, Bob Fearnley, scathing of the circuit’s emergency response
crews. “Incompetent would be polite,” Fearnley said.
It all rather took the gloss off an exceptional win by Maldonado, although not
in Venezuela where the country responded wildly to their new sporting hero.
President Hugo Chavez and his opponent in this autumn’s presidential
election, Henrique Capriles, both sought to make political capital out of
the good news story with the country’s press going into overdrive.
Williams, too, was impressed by his young charge, saying the 26 year-old had
the mark of a champion. “Undoubtedly, and I’ll tell you why, because he is
very quick and he does not make mistakes. He was calm on the radio the
entire time. That’s what champions do.”